Extended battery, why do you suppose....

[JonathanGennick]

The X60's extended battery, the one that you snap onto the bottom of the notebook, contains only four cells. Why do you suppose it's only four rather than the full eight found in the main battery? On my X30, the extended and main battery both contain the full complement of cells. Put a full eight cells in the snap-on battery, and we'd probably have a 14-16 hour battery life, and that'd be something to smile about. These snap-on extended batteries are quite large. There would seem to be plenty of room. Why not a full complement of cells?

[nickpoore]

I had the extended battery while I had my Tablet X41.

I was very disapointed.
Firstly, only about half the "battery" is battery - the rest is space filling plastic. I understand why, because it's a wedge, and they were using standard batteries, but it's still a bit lacking.

The extended battery was surprisingly bulky, adding to both the size (thickness) and weight of the laptop.

Lastly, the charge on the extended battery was sadly lacking.
It was about 35% that of the main 8-cell battery, and was not worth adding in the long run.

It's a shame, it's a great idea, but poorly executed.

[JonathanGennick]

That's helpful to know nickpoore, thanks. On the X30, that battery wedge makes a huge difference in runtime. It's well worth the trouble to lug it around on flights, for example. On later X series models though (X40 and higher), the impact doesn't seem to be as great, and that's what disappoints me. You can actually get a longer battery runtime now on the T series (by using a battery in place of the CD drive) than on the X series.

BTW, while I can live with the added bulk and weight of that battery slice while travelling, I never did find the resulting tilted keyboard to be "ergonomic" as IBM (now Lenovo) claims in their liturature. I like my laptop keyboards to be perfectly flat (no tilt).

[nickpoore]

BTW, while I can live with the added bulk and weight of that battery slice while travelling, I never did find the resulting tilted keyboard to be "ergonomic" as IBM (now Lenovo) claims in their liturature. I like my laptop keyboards to be perfectly flat (no tilt).

Then you'll be disapointed to know that they have continued the trend with little flip-down feet under the ultrabase.
It also "ergonomically" tilts the keyboard just slightly. <G>

[JonathanGennick]

Then you'll be disapointed to know that they have continued the trend with little flip-down feet under the ultrabase.
It also "ergonomically" tilts the keyboard just slightly. <G>

From what I can tell from the photos, even the bare X60 has a tilt built into it. Very disappointing. Maybe my desk is a bit lower than the norm, but any upward tilt forces my hands into an uncomfortable position. Ugh.

[nickpoore]

From what I can tell from the photos, even the bare X60 has a tilt built into it. Very disappointing. Maybe my desk is a bit lower than the norm, but any upward tilt forces my hands into an uncomfortable position. Ugh.

Duh.
Just put some sugar packets under the desk legs on your side of the desk. The desk will then lean away from you, making the laptop keyboard completely flat.

No need to thank me.
-=Nick=-